Clevis



E. A. WALTERS & H. L. A RBs;

ULEVIS.

(No Model.)

No. 340,838. Patented Apr. 27, 1886.

INVENTORS- WITNESSES.

ph r Washington as.

U ITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

EUGENE A. \VALTERS AND HENRY L. AYRES, OF \VALXVORTH, VISCONSIN.

CLEVIS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 340,838, dated April 27, 1886.

Application filed March 4, 1884. Serial No. 122,944. (No model.)

To CI/ZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that we, EUGENE A. Humans and HENRY L. AYREs, citizens of the United States, residing at lV-alworth, in the county of W'alworth and State of Visconsin, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Clevises; and we do declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the in vention, such as will enable others skilledin the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters and figures of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

I 5 This invention relates to clevises; and it consistsin the novel construction, combination, and arrangement of parts, as will be hereinafter fully described and elai med.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a side View;

Fig. 2, aplanview; Fig. 3, adetaehed sectional View showing the joint between the latch and hook, all. of which will be described.

The clevis proper, A, has its arms A con nected at their ends by the transverse bolt B,

which is removable therefrom to enable the detachment of the device from one implement when it is desired to use it on another. In the crown A of the clevis proper we form an opening, through which is inserted the rear end, 0', of the latch G, which-extends within the clevis A, and is held by a transverse pin 6. A shoulder, G, is formed on the latch above the clevis A, and the latch between said shoulder C and pin 0 journals 3 5 in the head of the clevis, so it may freely turn, as will be understood from the drawings. The latch in advance of the shoulder C is flattened and has its outer or forward end bent upward, forming a tongue, 0, the extremity 0 of which is beveled or cut oh in a line approximately parallel with that of the length of the latch, as shown in Figs. 1 and 3. The object of thus forming the extremity of the *tongue is to furnish a broad bearing for the point of the hook, as will be seen.

, The hook I) has its rear end bifurcated or slotted at D, so as to fit over the latch, and is pivoted thereto at about the point of bending the tongue therefrom, as shown in Figs. 1 and 3. The base-wall D" of the slot D is formed 1 and adapted to engage the inner edge of the tongue C when the hook is opened or carried forward into the position indicated in dotted lines, Fig. 2.

It will'benoticed that the wall D is inclined, so as to coincide and rest flat against the tongue when in the dotted position, Fig. 1. This angle of the wall D has another object.

It will be noticed that in use the hook is ordinarily as seen in theposition shown in Fig. 2, the back of the hook being toward the ground and the point of same projecting up; but frequently in use the hook will be dropped to the ground. If in such case dirt should get in between the hook and latch, the desiredmove- 6 meuts thereof may be, clogged and prevented.

It will be noticed that byinclining the wall as shown we are able to fit the lower edge, d, of the slot close against the under edge of the latch, thus excluding all dirt from the joint, as will be understood from the drawings.

The joint of the hook is curved over and bears, in the position shown in Fig. 1, on the end or extremity of the tongue, said bearing serving as a stop in the backward movement 7 5 of the hook, and the inclined shoulder D as a bearing in the forward movement of, same, as indicated in Fig. 1. Bylapping the jaws D on opposite sides of the latch we remove from the pivotpin all lateral strainsuch as is caused in turning the plow and bringing such strain onto the jawsas will be understood, thus obviating the breakage of the pin in the operation of turning or otherwise when under lateral strain. By this removable cross-bar the clcvis may be readily detached from one plow or harrow or other implement and attached to another one, as may be desired.

\Ve are aware thata patent has been granted one Bednar, No. 217,194, for a clevis formed of 0 a latch-bar, and a hook pivoted to one side thereof, and having its point arranged to coincide with the point or outer end of the latch when its edge shoulders engage stops formed by a lateral rib on the shank. This we do not 5 claim, but seek to protect ourselves in the formation of the joint between the latch and hook by bifurcating or slotting the hook, as shown. By this we take the lateral strain on the hook, which may occur in turning and :00

otherwise, off the pivot-pin and place same on the stronger parts, as clearly shown; also, the base of the slot in the hook forms a stop which cannot fail to serve its purpose, no matter what lateral bending may be given the hook. This wall in our device is sloped or inclined for the purpose of providing a broad bearing fiat against the inner edge of the tongue, and also to exclude dirt, as before described, and the point of the hook being bent back to engage the top of the tongue or latch, the flangerib and stop-shoulders of the above device are dispensed with. lVe are also aware that heretofore hooks have been journaled in one end of acontinuous link, and that such a construclion is shown in the book of farm implements published by Henry Stephens in 1858. Our invention differs from the said device in that the clevis has a detachable bar, whereby the improvement may be interchangeably used on different implements. It also differs from the said device in the journaling, not of the hook, but the latch in the clevis, and in the peculiar form of joint between the tongue and hook, as hereinbefore described. It will be seen that the clevis-loop A is pivoted at one end, and its other end may swing freely 011 such pivot. In the swinging end of this clevis is journaled the stem 0, so that it can rotate freely. \Ve thus get two motions-one of the clevis on its pivot and the'other of the stem in the swinging end of the clevis. To the rotating stem we pivot one end of the hook D, so that the said hookmay turn on its connection with the stem. Thus we get a third movement. By these three movements the hitching attachment will give or adjust into any line of draft that may be exerted on it, and this can only be secured by the three pivotsbefore described. In operation, if the parts are in the position shown in Fig. 1 and draft be exerted on the hook D at right angles to the plane of such hook, the said hook will rotate until it rests in the plane of such draft,

when its hook will readily adjust itself to the lines thereof. Again, any torsional strain on the hook, incident to the twisting of the draft chain or hook, is overcome by the rotation of the stem. This free movement of the parts enables a ready adaptation to any line of strain or draft, and prevents anyfraeture or damage to the parts, resulting from a sudden strain in any direction when the connections are rigid. We are aware that it is not new to journal a snap-hook in the swinging end of a clevis; but in this case the hook is journaled in the clevis and has no movement except a rotation in its bearing. Heretofore, also, hooks have been pivoted to stems or shanks; butin such instances the stem is not j ournaled in a clevis, link, or bearing. V e are not aware, however, that hitching attachments have ever been formed of a clevis pivoted at one end, a stem journaled in the swinging end of such clevis, and a hook pivoted at one end to such stem, whereby to secure the universal adaptation to the various lines of draft, as before fully described. \Ve therefore do not broadly claim any of the construction shown in the patent to Bednar, or in the farm-implement book above adverted to; but,

Having described our improvement, what we claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patcut, is

Aelevis consisting of the following elements in combination: a link, a draft -latch swiveled therein, and a hook pivoted to the draftlatch and limited in its forward and backward movement thereby, the parts being arranged and operating substantially as and for the purposes specified.

In testimony whereof we affix our signatures in presence of two witnesses.

EUGENE A. WALTERS. HENRY L. AYRES.

Vitnesses:

J. S. MAXoN, O. E. DAVIS. 

